Relaxation and Meditation
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation March 14, 2019 Ayesha Nathoo 7 citations
Relaxation therapies developed in the early twentieth century, such as neuromuscular relaxation, visualization, and Autogenic Training, paved the way for secularized meditation practices that emerged later. From the 1960s, modern yoga and Transcendental Meditation gained popularity, followed by mindfulness-based approaches in the late twentieth century. These practices have been both distinguished from and combined with one another as they were marketed to health-seeking Western audiences. The chapter offers a historical perspective that helps explain why meditative techniques have been adapted for therapeutic use and what the limits of such adaptation are.